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He won’t be wearing a Celtics jersey Friday night, but you can bet as soon as his Nikes hit the Garden floor, the chants will be resounding:

“SCAL-A-BREE-NEE!”

The man, the myth, the legend, Brian Scalabrine will be back in Boston on Friday, and though he now wears No. 24 for the Chicago Bulls, he’ll always have a special place in the hearts and minds of many Celtics fans.

But, do you wish he was still riding pine for the C’s, or are you happy that he’s moved on?

Scalabrine himself may be pretty pleased, as he’s getting some serious playing time under Tom Thibodeau as Carlos Boozer‘s broken hand continues to heal. A defensive-minded big man, Scal is averaging about 3 points and a rebound in his 12.3 minutes per game.

While he won’t need to make any plans to visit Springfield for his induction ceremony, it’s a step up from his past few years in Boston, where he played from 2005-10. He racked up loads of playing time in his first two seasons but became a fixture on the bench during the Big Three era.

Still, he gave fans countless memories. Every time he hucked up a 3-pointer, the entire Garden crowd went dead silent. When it went in — about 35 percent of the time — the place erupted. He also gave one of the better news conferences in basketball history, calling out the media to their faces, asking them what exactly made them experts:

Then again, not everyone loved Scal. There were many die-hards who thought he was nothing more than a sideshow, and that the chants of his name were somewhat embarrassing to witness — for the crowd, Doc Rivers and Scalabrine himself.

With Scal now gone, there are at least some people who are relieved that the distraction of having a less talented player receive the majority of the crowd’s attention is over.